Ryanair to resume 40% of July flights with new rules for passengers

Ryanair on Tuesday confirmed it will return to 40% of its planned flight schedule from 1 July and will require passengers to wear face coverings and to ask crew permission to use the toilet.

The Irish airline, Europe’s largest low-cost carrier, is to begin to fly 1,000 flights per day on 1 July, up from a skeleton service of 30 flights per day it is currently operating, it said in a statement. That will allow it to cover 90% of its pre-crisis network but fewer frequencies, it said.

This month CEO Michael O’Leary said Ryanair was likely to go from 40% of normal flights in July to 50% in August, but with at least half of the seats likely to be empty due to “anaemic demand”.

As part of its COVID-19 response, Ryanair will require all passengers to fill out a form detailing the length of their planned visit and where they will stay, information that will be provided to EU governments to monitor quarantine measures.

Britain, one of Ryanair’s three largest markets, plans to quarantine for 14 days after arriving in the country, a move that industry leaders on Monday said would worsen an already grave situation for the aviation sector.

Ryanair said it will disinfect all aircraft interiors every night and ban cash sales on board and encourage customers to check their temperature before traveling.

“Queuing for toilets will also be prohibited on board although toilet access will be made available to individual passengers upon request,” the statement said.

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